Squash Canada is thrilled to announce that the Windsor Squash & Fitness Club (WSFC) will host the 2018 Canadian Men’s and Women’s Team Squash Championships, and in an unprecedent move in Canadian squash, will offer significant prize money. From February 16-18, 2018, the WSFC will welcome Canada’s top players as they represent their home Province/Territory in hopes of capturing the separate men and women teams’ national titles.

Thanks to championship sponsors and enthusiastic squash supporters, the championships will be a history-making event, awarding total prize money of $21,000. The 6 gold medal finishers will each receive $2,000, $1,000 will go to each finalist and each bronze medalist will receive $500.

Over the past twelve months Squash Canada has taken many steps to increase the prestige of its eight national championships held annually. Securing host clubs, like the WSFC, who not only bring first-class facilities but a passion and commitment to executing top-level events has helped achieve this.

The Canadian Men’s and Women’s Team Championships is a high-calibre event in which 3 men or 3 women of each provincial/territorial team, as well as a Canadian Armed Forces team, play head-to-head, one player at a time, with the team who won the best of three matches being credited with the win. The timing of the event has moved from its traditional spot in early January to the February 16-18 dates, which is a protected date by the Professional Squash Association (PSA), and will therefore be free of PSA World Tour conflicts for the many Canadians who compete professionally.

Registration: The 2018 Canadian Men's & Women's Team Championships registration is to be completed through your Provincial/Territorial Associations/Canadian Armed Forces. Registration forms are to be completed and submitted with payment to Squash Canada by mail, faxed or email. Payment can be made by credit Card (Visa or MasterCard) or cheques made out to ‘Squash Canada’.

The per team entry fee covers everything to provide all competitors with an all-inclusive event experience! ALL meals over the course of the championship, Saturday Night Social for all players, volunteers, VIPs and Sponsors, access to the players lounge and VIP lounge, tournament sounvenir and unprecedent prize money!

Thanks to championship sponsors and enthusiastic squash supporters, the championships will be a history-making event, awarding total prize money of $21,000. The 6 gold medal finishers will each receive $2,000, $1,000 will go to each finalist and each bronze medalist will receive $500.

Entry Deadline: January 26, 2018 at 11:59pm EST

See Policies and Regulations for entry eligibility information.

EDUCATION FOR PARTICIPATING ATHLETES

All competitors should be advised prior to the event that doping control may be in effect and they are subject to doping control under the Canadian Anti-Doping Program (CADP). Coaches and other athlete support personnel must be aware that they are also subject to the rules of the CADP.

Know their rights and responsibilities as athletes with regards to anti-doping;

Understand the sample collection procedures;

Check all medications and products before taking them to ensure they do not contain banned substances;

Avoid taking supplements (but if they choose to, learn how to minimize their risk);

Verify medical exemption requirements; and

Contact the CCES directly should they have any questions or would like additional information (call 1-800-672-7775 or email info@cces.ca).

Athletes who test positive risk being sanctioned in accordance to the rules of the CADP. Athletes are responsible for reviewing this information prior to competition. Athlete support personnel are also encouraged to become familiar with anti-doping rules and regulations.

Registration: The 2018 Canadian Men's & Women's Team Championships registration is to be completed through your Provincial/Territorial Associations/Canadian Armed Forces. Registration forms are to be completed and submitted with payment to Squash Canada by mail, faxed or email. Payment can be made by credit Card (Visa or MasterCard) or cheques made out to ‘Squash Canada’.

The per team entry fee covers everything to provide all competitors with an all-inclusive event experience! ALL meals over the course of the championship, Saturday Night Social for all players, volunteers, VIPs and Sponsors, access to the players lounge and VIP lounge, tournament sounvenir and unprecedent prize money!

Thanks to championship sponsors and enthusiastic squash supporters, the championships will be a history-making event, awarding total prize money of $21,000. The 6 gold medal finishers will each receive $2,000, $1,000 will go to each finalist and each bronze medalist will receive $500.

Entry Deadline: January 26, 2018 at 11:59pm EST

See Policies and Regulations for entry eligibility information.

TEAM ENTRY ELIGBILITY

Each Member Provincial/Territorial Squash Association in good standing with Squash Canada is eligible to enter a Team in the Canadian Women’s Team Championship and a Team in the Canadian Men's Team Championship. In addition:

The Canadian Armed Forces may enter a team into both the Men's and Women's Championship; and

The Host Provincial/Territorial Squash Association may enter two teams into both the Men's and Women's Championship.

The selection of teams is strictly the responsibility of the Provincial/Territorial Squash Association or the Canadian Armed Forces, as the case may be. Athletes must meet the athlete eligibility requirements.

ATHLETE ELIGIBILITY

In order to represent a Provincial/Territorial Squash Association a competitor must be:

A member in good standing of the respective Provincial/Territorial Squash Association.

A Canadian citizen, landed immigrant, or have resided continuously in Canada for one (1) year immediately preceding the Championships.

A resident in the province/territory that they are representing for a minimum of not less than twelve months. They must have belonged to the PTA that they represent for a minimum of not less than twelve months in their lifetime. If a player has resided in more than one province for more than twelve months in each province and if a player has been invited to represent more than one province, the player at his or her sole discretion shall have the option of representing the single province of their choice.

If a competitor is in full-time attendance at a university or college, or if a competitor has temporarily relocated to a training centre outside their home province, the competitor may compete for either their home Provincial/Territorial Squash Association or resident Provincial/Territorial Squash Association.

In order to represent the Canadian Armed Forces a competitor must be:

A member in good standing of a Provincial/Territorial Squash Association as at the time of registration and through to the end of the competition.

A Canadian citizen, landed immigrant, or have resided continuously in Canada for one (1) year immediately preceding the Championships. Provincial/Territorial Squash Associations (PTA) who are unable field a full team from within their PTA may acquire players from other PTAs subject to the approval of Squash Canada. Squash Canada approval will require the PTA to demonstrate the lack of players within their PTA and that the incoming player is not ranked higher within their team to ensure fairness.

Notwithstanding a competitor may be a member in good standing with their respective Provincial/Territorial Squash Association and Squash Canada, where a competitor is subject to a sanction imposed by the Host Club, Squash Canada shall respect that sanction, including any sanction which may preclude the person from entering the premises and thus participating in the Championships, provided the sanction was imposed using fair procedures. Specifically, the sanctioned person must have been informed by the Host Club of the nature of the

infraction and have been given an opportunity to provide information concerning the incident prior to the sanction being imposed.

Provincial/Territorial Squash Associations and the Canadian Armed Forces may individually adopt further eligibility requirements in addition to the Squash Canada requirements.

COMPETITORS PER TEAM (TEAM COMPOSITION)

A team consists of three competitors. Provinces and territories may send a team of up to four competitors (i.e. the team and a reserve/substitute).

TEAM ORDERS

Teams must be submitted in descending order of strength. Team orders should correspond to current NRS, or if not applicable, provincial or territorial rankings. Team orders that do not correspond to current NRS must be substantiated by current sanctioned tournament results. Any player without a current national ranking will be designated as NR (non-ranked).

TEAM SEEDS

The Team seeds are the responsibility of Squash Canada. 100% of the draw will be seeded. Seeds will be published by Squash Canada’s National Office approximately two weeks prior to the start of the Championships.

PROTESTS

A. Seeds

Protests of team seeds must be made within 72 hours of the distribution of the seeds by Squash Canada’s National Office. Protests must be submitted in writing to Squash Canada’s National Office with appropriate documentation.

Any changes from the original seeding must be supported using the following weighted method:

Head to head results from the current squash season (September 1 – until the last day of the month preceding the month of the Championship)

Most recent provincial/territorial rankings

National or international results from the previous year.

B. Team Orders

Protests of team orders must be made within 72 hours of the distribution of the seeds by Squash Canada’s National Office. Protests must be submitted in writing to Squash Canada’s National Office with appropriate documentation.

Squash Canada will form a three-member panel to review the protest(s) and determine the final seeding/order.

ORDER OF PLAY

The order of play is to commence as 2,1,3 and should alternate each day from 2,1,3 to 3,1,2. The number one position must always be second in the order. All three matches should be played consecutively on one court.

TEAM SUBSITITIONS (CHANGES TO TEAM COMPOSITION)

In the event of sickness or other circumstances within seven days of the start of the competition, a team may substitute a player on their team provided the incoming player is not ranked higher within their team to ensure fairness.

No substitutions or additions (i.e. fourth competitor) to the team composition will be allowed after the commencement of the Championship.

If a team has fewer than three players for a particular encounter (due to injury, illness or other) then the default(s) will occur in the vacant position, i.e. ranked player number 1, 2 or 3 (the team does not have to move players up in ranked order in case of a defaulted match). A defaulted match will be scored as 3-0 in games and 33-0 in points.

If a team has 4 players and wishes to play the player ranked #4 that player will play at position #3 and the other players will move up in playing order until the vacant spot is filled. Should this change in team composition be required by the team they must notify the Tournament Referee, Squash Canada Representative (by email if not present), and the Host Committee Chair no less than one hour prior to the scheduled commencement of their team’s encounter.

DEAD RUBBER

There are three matches in each encounter. A team will win the encounter if they win two of three matches. If a team wins the first two matches played, the third match is considered a ‘dead rubber’, i.e. the results do not affect the outcome of the encounter (the outcome has already been determined). All dead rubbers are to be played to best 3 of 5 games. (All matches are entered into the Squash Canada NRS. This is to guarantee fairness to all athletes and to increase the amount of ranking results.)

A player that defaults, withdraws or retires from a dead rubber match without justification satisfactory to the Squash Canada representative the defaulting player and/or team may be subject to the following consequences:

The rubber match would be considered a loss by the defaulting player;

Loss of rankings points to the defaulting player in accordance with Squash Canada’s Canadian National Rankings Policy;

Loss of the defaulting player’s continued right to play in the Championship.